Sharks Draw First Blood in Berkshire

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Saturday 18 April saw the Cornish Sharks travel to Reading to play their first game of the 2009 season against the Berkshire Renegades (formerly the Reading Renegades).  The day was warm and sunny, with a brisk breeze.  The Renegades were feeling confident after their win the previous week against the Gloucester Banshees 13-12 (a newly formed team in the league, playing their first ever league game) and the Cornish had mixed feelings as although they have beaten Reading every game played in the two previous seasons, they had also always lost their first game in each of the previous two seasons.

The Sharks applied pressure from the first with a strong drive by Running Back Andy Dixon (sponsored by Newquay Arms) who on one play gained a 30 yard gain however they were unable to finish and fumbled the ball on the Renegades 15 yard line.  The Renegades offence took the field but being unable to move the ball were forced to punt.  The Sharks took control again but didn’t waste it this time with a positive drive down the field they were soon celebrating their first touchdown of the season by Newquay Arms sponsored Dixon and the point from the field goal (taken by David Krierhn) was good giving them a 7-0 lead.

The rest of the quarter saw both sides make some gains but with no score.  At the end of the fourth quarter the Renegades were poised at a tantalizing fourth and one needing one yard to keep the drive alive and so the second quarter, the Renegades had to make a decision, fourth and one, go for it or punt?  Renegades went for it.  Sharks defence held firm and took the ball on their own 45 yard line.  With a series of big gains from MVP Andy Dixon (sponsored by Newquay Arms), and some sharp passing to the Sharks’ wide receivers, Sharks found themselves inside the ten on first and goal.  The Renegades, to their credit, forced a fumble inside their own ten to take the ball.  But again, the Renegades were unable to move the ball more than five yards and were forced to punt.  The Sharks’ offence took to the field on the 45 yard line and with a long pass and a quick run by Wide Receiver David Krierhn, the Sharks got their second touchdown and again the point after was good (again by Krierhn) giving the Sharks a 14-0 lead.

The Renegades received the ball with 8 minutes left until half time and after two runs and an incomplete pass, the punt team took the field.  A poor snap saw the Renegades’ punter have to juggle the ball before managing to get it away.  Sharks’ defence, clearly thinking the punter was going to run, tackled the punter in the motion of kicking – a penalty against the Sharks giving the Renegades a first down.  But they were again unable to move the ball and again had to punt.  This time the Sharks’ punt blocking team managed to get a hand on the ball to give their offence good field position and they took the advantage to pass their way to the end zone and gain their third touch-down (the second by Newquay Arms sponsored Andy Dixon) – Krierhn stepped up again and the point after was good giving them a solid 21-0 lead.  With less than three minutes on the clock, the Renegades offence came on to try and get on the score board before the half closed and edged close enough to the Sharks ten yard line to take a field goal bringing the half time score to 21-3.

The Renegades had an uphill climb at the start of the second half but their offence were determined.  However, the Sharks defence were also as determined that they wouldn’t let in any further points.  Possession flipped between the two sides for the early part of the third quarter and both sides suffered penalties but the Sharks pushed harder and after a failed attempt at a field goal by the Renegades the Sharks took the ball on their own 20 yard line and RB Ceowlin Hickman marched down the field and over the goal line for a 27-3 lead.  They missed the field goal point but still had a strong 27-3 lead by the end of the third quarter.

The Sharks used the fourth quarter as an opportunity to give their backup and rookie players some playing time so the Sharks failed to notch up any further touch-downs ending the game on Berkshire Renegades 3 – Cornish Sharks 27.

Sharks Head Coach Brian Smallworth said after the game “I am pleased with the team’s performance today and I am confident that we will improve as we do appear to be slow starters each season.  Being a Saturday game, many of our players were unavailable due to work commitments but I am pleased they performed so well after such a long journey.  I believe the score could have been higher, but it is important to give our rookies and backups playing time and was pleased that the defence held strong, even if we failed to put any points on the board.  I am looking forward to our next match against the Plymouth Admirals on 3rd May.”

Ends

For further information or electronic/hard copies of photographs, please contact Sharon Smallworth, Marketing & Fundraising on 07789484817 or email mrscoach@innisrhia.eclipse.co.uk or Brian Smallworth, Head Coach on 07786370980 or email bjscoach@yahoo.com.